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Monday, March 13, 2017

This week NYTimes wine writer Eric Asimov wrote a piece Wine is Food, on how people might start to consider the type of farming - organic, especially - that best matches their criteria for the food they eat. Bravo!

In the Q and A following his luncheon keynote, I asked Asimov why he thought the U.S. producers were so much slower than their European counterparts to grow and make organically grown wines. (Currently the percentage of organic vines in the U.S. is about 2.4% compared to France, which is 9%). His answer was that Americans have so far been slow to understand that wine is food, unlike Europeans, for whom this is a more familiar context.

Most wineries are, in fact, beverage factories. In February, Asimov wrote about the industrial ways in which most wine in the U.S. and the rest of the world is made - with pesticides in the vineyards and oak flavorings, flavorful yeasts and additives - in an article about the event (highly recommended).

Therefore it was a pleasure to see his latest "wine is food" article bring this topic up - of organic and artisanal - to a huge audience.

While, as I said, I enjoyed this piece, it starts the discussion but doesn't really provide solid help for consumers who want to find the wines that fit the organic and artisanal category.

And, alas, reflecting the lack of knowledge about organics that is wide spread among the wine writers community, Asimov then goes on to deliver some faulty advice - giving the impression that the only organically grown wine is what the USDA calls "Organic Wine" and omitting the two other types of organically grown wines (which are the ones with larger productions and superior taste).

He also repeats some of the old saws about organic certification being too expensive and cumbersome for producers to bother with.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: consumers have many fantastic choices when it comes to organically grown wines from certified vines - at all price points. Below are some lists of wines to consider, if you're looking, at a minimum, for wines from organic vines, some of which are made industrially and some of which are made artisanally.

WINES UNDER $10

• Industrially Produced

When price is paramount, you can't beat the $4 Green Fin and the $6-8 Rare Earth (made by Bronco and sold at Trader Joes) on price (not value, since I'm not a fan of these wines, preferring to spend a LITTLE bit more for the $10+ wines.) These are at least as good as most of the other chemical wines at this price point - which is not saying much, but if cost is the main criteria, then this is the ticket. These wines are produced by the same folks who bring you Two Buck Chuck. These wines are made in a strictly industrial way, however. You're not going to find artisanal wines in this tier.

Green Fin
Rare Earth

$10-$20 WINES

• Industrially Produced

At this price tier, you can look for wines that either made industrially or artisanally. The biggest wine brand in this space by a mile is Bonterra, based in California's Mendocino County, though its grapes come from a wider range of growers in different regions of the state. For those who prefer to shop by mail, I can enthusiastically recommend Bonterra's wine club, which provides substantial discounts for wine club members and can be a regular alternative to the non-organically grown wines that dominate supermarket shelves. You may even see it in the produce aisles.

Outside the U.S., foreign organic producers have a strong presence in this price point. But since there are so many, it's hard to provide a list here. The category is dominated by French wines, since 9% of that country's vineyards are certified organic, but also includes many Italian, Chilean and Argentinean wines.

California

Bonterra (often available at Costco)
Girasole (all wines; made by the Barra family)

Washington:

ECO Wines (from Snoqualmie)
Pacific Rim (organically grown Riesling)

Argentina

Domaine Bousquet (often available at Costco)

• Artisanally Produced

You can't really start to find any degree of artisanal production until you're willing to pay $10-20 for a wine.

Learning about the U.S. artisanal wines in this tier takes time and attention, but is well worth the effort. These wines come from smaller producers who may get more distribution either close to the place they are made (i.e. locally) or in wine shops and natural foods stores.

These are also the wines most likely to repeatedly show up on Eric Asimov's Top 20 Under $20 lists.

Note: Oregon producers are more likely to produce wines in this category than California producers, on a percentage basis, as they appear to have lower vineyard acquisition costs in many cases.

Wines We Cover

We publish information about wines grown from certified organic or Biodynamic vineyards that are generally made with sulfites (which are usually added in small amounts to preserve the wine).

That includes these certification types:

ORGANIC WINE CERTIFICATIONS

• Made with Organic Grapes

Vineyards: certified organic

Vinification: less than 100 ppm of sulfites (i.e. a normal range)

Winery: certified organic facility

Labeling: front or back label

• Ingredients: Organic Grapes

Vineyards: certified organic

Vinification: up to 350 ppm of sulfites (same as for any non organic wine)

Labeling: back label only

BIODYNAMIC® CERTIFICATIONS

• Biodynamic Wine

Vineyards: certified biodynamic

Yeasts: native

Vinification: less than 100 ppm of sulfites; no additives of any kind

Winery: certified biodynamic facility

Labeling: front or back label; Demeter logo may appear

• Made with Biodynamic Grapes

Vineyards: certified biodynamic

Yeasts: native or organic

Vinification: less than 100 ppm of sulfites; limited number of additives permitted

Winery: certified biodynamic facility

Labeling: front or back

Note: unlike organically grown wines, for which there is a category called "Ingredients: Organic Grapes," wines sourced from biodynamic grapes may not make any biodynamic claim on the bottle label. Bottle labeling is reserved for Demeter certified wines only.

SULFITES IN CONTEXT

According to U.C. Davis, the average among all wines in the U.S. (as well as globally) is 80 ppm.

WHAT THE USDA CALLS ORGANIC WINES

Unlike any other nation, the U.S. oddly imposes a no sulfite restriction on wines in order for them to be called Organic Wine. These wines are also called NSA or NAS wines (which stands for "No Sulfites Added" or "No Added Sulfites.")

From the above description, one can see that there are in fact three types of organically grown wines:

1. Organic Wine (less than 15% of all organically grown wine)

2. Made with Organic Grapes

3. Ingredients: Organic Grapes

The vast majority of wines from organic grapes are labeled Made with Organic Grapes, Ingredients: Organic Grapes or are blended with nonorganic grapes and unlabeled.

Fine winemakers do not generally make wine without sulfites and a number of large wine retailers like BevMo do not sell wine in the category of "USDA Organic Wine."

With rare exceptions, this blog does not cover what the USDA calls "Organic Wine."

We are hopeful that the USDA will revise the categorization of organically grown wines and make NSA or NAS wines a category of their own.

This would put the U.S. in accord with the rest of the world, where "Organic Wine" means a wine from certified grapes made within limits on sulfites (generally under 100-150 ppm).